Richie Sambora has said he's not counting out a return to Bon Jovi, the band he performed with for 30 years before ultimately parting ways with frontman Jon Bon Jovi in 2013.

However, the guitarist noted that it would have to be a "special situation" for him to rejoin the rock group. And recent comments from Mr. Bon Jovi that appeared to paint Sambora in a negative light certainly don't seem to be helping the case. So what will take to get the two rockers back together?

A change of circumstances might be the likely answer. Even so, when Bon Jovi figuratively leaves the door open for Sambora's return, the singer still seems to place blame on the guitarist. Like when he said in an interview last month that he wished "Richie had his life together and was still in the band."

That remark didn't sit well with the guitarist.

"When people say I don't have my life together — are you kidding me?" Sambora replied to the Daily Mail last week (Oct. 16). "I'm the happiest dude on the block."

Elsewhere in the chat, when asked about a possible Bon Jovi reunion, the guitarist said, "It would have to be a special situation for me to go back, but I'm certainly not counting it out. I have no malice toward that band."

Still, it's been a long seven years since Sambora last performed with Bon Jovi, save for a one-off guest appearance in 2018. But while Mr. Bon Jovi has alluded to other causes for Sambora's 2013 departure, the guitarist himself said he just had to get off the road to spend more time with his family.

"Obviously it hurts and you know, breaking up is hard to do," Sambora explained. "I was in a situation and it was not easy to make that decision to leave the band and the fans. … I was in a dire situation with my family, and I had to make a tough decision and I did and I'm sure people weren't happy about it."

All that said, any bad blood between the two could be water under the bridge if the rockers ever reunite. And for Sambora, it seems like a return to Bon Jovi could be a very real possibility.

"We've had our ups and downs throughout the years as any married couple have," the guitarist said of the singer. "Jon and I spent more time together than we spent with our families because him and I wrote the songs."

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